How It's Used

"And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."

—The Bible, Isaiah 11:12 (King James Version).

"Ladislaw had now accepted his bit of work, though it was not that indeterminate loftiest thing which he had once dreamed of as alone worthy of continuous effort. His nature warmed easily in the presence of subjects which were visibly mixed with life and action, and the easily stirred rebellion in him helped the glow of public spirit. In spite of Mr. Casaubon and the banishment from Lowick, he was rather happy; getting a great deal of fresh knowledge in a vivid way and forpractical purposes, and making the 'Pioneer' celebrated as far as Brassing (nevermind the smallness of the area; the writing was not worse than much that reaches the four corners of the earth)."

—George Eliot, Middlemarch (1871).

—Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, (New York: Puffin Books, 1964, 1998), p. 10.

—David Pogue, “A Flash Drive That Holds Your Computer,” The New York Times, June 15, 2006.

Links

Related on eAlmanac
The Four Corners Region of the United States

Beyond eAlmanac
Wikipedia article on the "Four Continents" and the origin of the expression